It would not be the DeKalb County Tigers’ night last week. It was the first region game of the season for DeKalb, as they hosted the Macon County Tigers on a rare Thursday night game. The crowd was out in force, and the cat fight looked to be evenly matched until the second half where things fell apart quickly for DeKalb.

Macon County would receive to start the game, and showed they were willing to take some chances against their DeKalb County rivals. Starting at their own 25, and sticking to the running game, Macon moved to the DeKalb 43, where they faced a fourth and three. Rolling the dice, a keeper by Macon QB Kyle Shockley took the ball to the 39 for a fresh set of downs.

There, another pair of keeps was good to the 36, then a run by Gabe Borders was downed at the 35. Facing a fourth and six, once again Macon County gambled. A pass to Braylon Flowers was caught and taken down to the DeKalb 26 for another first down.

After another first down at the 12, a pass to Nate Green netted only one yard, then a run by Borders was downed at the seven. Another keeper was stopped at the three and facing a fourth and one, Macon once again lined up. Perhaps it was just to draw DeKalb off sides, but that’s exactly what happened. Half the distance to the goal gave Macon a first and goal from the one and a half Line.

The next play ended in controversy. A keeper appeared to be fumbled at the line with DeKalb recovering and moving out to the three. The officials saw it differently, saying the quarterback was down for no gain. Another keeper this time had Shockley in the end zone. With the extra point, Macon was up 7-0 with 1:16 left in the first quarter.

A squib kick on the kickoff ended with good field position for DeKalb’s first possession. Starting at their own 43, a keep by Quarterback Briz Trapp was good to the Macon 48, then a pass to Colby Barnes fell incomplete. Another keeper lost yards to the Macon 49 and DeKalb would have to punt.

As the second quarter began, Macon would start from their own seven yard line, but they would only advance to the 11 before they would be forced to punt from inside their own end zone.

DeKalb would once again start with good field position, at the Macon 33. This time they would leave points on the board. A Barnes carry was good to the 28, then another was good to the 23. A Brizz Trapp pass to Malachi Trapp would fall incomplete in the end zone, but then another Barnes run was good to the 11. With a new set of downs, Briz once again fired to Malachi, this time connecting in the end zone for six points. With the extra point by Juan Ortega, DeKalb had tied the game 7-7 with 8:48 left in the half.

The play would begin to get sloppy on both sides of the ball from that point. After the kickoff, Macon would run to their own 43, but a personal foul on DeKalb would set them up at the DeKalb 42. A run by Borders would then be caught in the backfield by Johnny Skinner for a three yard loss. Skinner would then nearly catch Shockley in the backfield, causing an incomplete pass. On a fourth and six play, a pass to Borders was complete but downed at the 37. DeKalb would take over on downs.

A Barnes run netted only one yard, then a pass to Skinner was complete all the way down to the Macon 32. Another Barnes carry was good to the 26, but then a pass to a wide open Josh May was dropped. Barnes was handed the ball again, down to the 24, and on a fourth and two, it was Barnes ran once more but came up a yard short.

Taking over on downs at the 23, a false start backed Macon up to their own 18. A keep was good to the 28, then a Borders carry was good for a first down at the 34. Another keep took the ball to the 40, but a hold on the next play once again backed them up. A pass to Hayden Wix was broken up by Trace Hamilton, then another pass looked to have been nearly intercepted by DeKalb, but was ruled incomplete.

Stick to Wix, a pass was completed to the DeKalb 48, then a deep pass to Wix fell incomplete. Another pass to Wix was broken up by Tyler Estes, then another was broken up by Trace Hamilton. A keeper would then be stopped, giving DeKalb the ball at their own 47, with 22 seconds left in the half.

DeKalb would take to the air as the battled the clock and the Macon Tigers. A deep pass to Malachi Trapp fell incomplete, then a pass to John Ellis fell incomplete. Then, a pass to Josh May was caught and downed at the Macon 17 yard line. With nine seconds left on the clock, a pass to Holden Trapp was caught and was out of bounds at the 10 with what looked like two seconds left to play, but once again the officials had other ideas. The clock ran out with the end of the half.

DeKalb would receive to start the third quarter, and May would fair catch at the DeKalb 30. There, Macon was given a big dose of Colby Barnes, running to the 36, then 47, the Macon 37, then the 30. A false start would back them up five, but a Trapp keep was good to the 11. Another Barnes run took the ball to the seven, then a pass to May was caught for a touchdown. The extra point attempt ended with a bad snap, but DeKalb was on top 13-7 with 7:48 left in the third.

An off side call on DeKalb forced the Tigers to kick off five yards back, then a return by Macon was good to the DeKalb 47, but a block in the back took them to the Macon 43. From there, Macon would mount another scoring drive. A keeper resulted in a holding call, backing Macon up to the 35, then a ball was tipped incomplete for a second and 17.

A direct snap to Borders ended in a run to the 43, then a pass to Flowers was downed at midfield. On a fourth and three play from the 50, Borders again took a direct snap, running it all the way for six points. With the extra point, Macon was on top 14-13 with 5:37 left in the third.

As the fourth quarter began, DeKalb would start at their own 32, and looked to be driving but penalties would eventually doom the possession. Barnes ran to the 39, then again to the 44. A pass to May was caught and taken to the Macon 38, then a holding call would back DeKalb up to the 49. A Briz Trapp pass to Malachi Trapp went over his head, then a false start would back DeKalb up five more. A pass to Barnes was good to the Macon 45, but then Trapp would be sacked back at the DeKalb 44.

The sack would have consequences, with Trapp leaving the field with a drooping shoulder. DeKalb would punt, with the ball rolling out of bounds at the Macon 21.

From there the DeKalb defense stepped up, and aided by penalties by Macon, they would actually lose yards, back to their own 11, before punting.

It was apparent that Briz Trapp was now out of the game as back up QB Jordan Parker took to the field. DeKalb stuck to the ground game, and starting from the Macon 44, Barnes was handed the ball for two carries, moving to the 35. There, a bad snap flew over Parker’s head with him falling on it at the 43. DeKalb would punt.

Macon would do no better. Starting at their own 20, they would reach the 31, before a sack would push them back and force them to punt.

DeKalb would start at their own 24, and a run by Holden Trapp was good to the 34. Parker then took to the air, attempting to connect with Malachi Trapp, but the pass was intercepted at the 37.

Macon would make DeKalb pay. A direct snap to Borders was good to the DeKalb 49, then a keeper by Shockley was downed at the DeKalb 50. A handoff to Borders was then caught in the backfield at the 45 by May, but then a pass to Borders on the next play was good for a touchdown. With the PAT, Macon was up 21-13 with only 3:43 left in the game.

In the end, that would be where the score stayed. DeKalb would have one more possession, before turning it over on downs.

The DeKalb Tigers return to Friday night play this week as they host the Purple Tigers of Watertown. The game starts at 7:00 p.m.